Lots of thrills at Ryan Lemmon Invitational

It was like a roller coaster ride for Northwood's baseball team Tuesday at the Ryan Lemmon Invitational.

But in the end the Timberwolves survived, defeating Murrieta Valley, 7-6, to notch their second win in three games in the 16-team tournament.

"That was a good victory for us," said Northwood Coach Rob Stuart. "Sometimes you look at your opponent and think, 'we're in trouble.' But credit to our guys, they held it together with good leadership.

"That's what we've been asking them before: keep the focus, keep the energy level up. This club is very fun to be around and is very hard working and they don't give up."

Warriors struggling

Woodbridge's baseball team notched a Pacific Coast League victory over Corona del Mar before the spring break. But the Warriors dropped three in a row to start the Ryan Lemmon Invitational Tournament.

The Warriors first two losses were by one run.

"Both games were frustrating because I think both games we could have won," said Woodbridge Coach Tim Murray.

"We're in every game but when you're competing you want to try and finish the game and we just haven't been able to do that this year."

But Murray still believes the Warriors can finish strong in league.

"We want to come back into league healthy and strong and be ready to try and compete in league when we come back," he said. "Our goal is to make the playoffs. The way you do that is you finish in the first three teams in your league so hopefully we come back and we're better from this tournament."

Successful tourney

Everything seemed to be running smoothly at the Ryan Lemmon Invitational.

Undoubtedly, Irvine fans would have liked to have seen some more wins for the home teams.

But it was a well run tournament with some excellent teams in it.

It's also attracting the attention of scouts and college coaches. There were 27 scouts and 20 college coaches at the tournament Monday, according to Dick Owens of the Ryan Lemmon Foundation.

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